Pasco School Board approves new math, language arts materials

Pasco students will have new textbooks and other materials for language arts and math beginning this fall.

The Pasco School Board on Tuesday night approved the curriculum recommendations for the two subjects as determined by two committees of teachers, administrators, parents and other community members.

The recommended materials are largely from publisher Houghton Mifflin - the Journeys/Senderos and Collections series for language arts and Math Expression series for elementary school math. The Agile Mind series, developed by an educational foundation, will be used in Pasco’s middle and high schools. The materials can be viewed at bit.ly/PascoCurriculum.

Committee members said the materials meet the state’s education standards but also meet many of the desires of surveyed teachers and parents. Teachers and administrators said they will also provide for a more consistent curriculum across all the district’s schools, which currently can have vastly different textbooks and materials.

The new materials will cost $5.6 million, about $1.7 million more than the district budgeted this year for the effort. Deputy and successor Superintendent Michelle Whitney said she and other district administrators will work within the budget to find the needed money. Teachers will be trained on the new materials this summer.

The push for new textbooks and related classroom materials began in October, following a teachers strike that delayed the opening of Pasco schools in September.

Under the new teacher contract, recommendations for new language arts and math materials for students in all grades were required by this spring. Science and arts recommendations are due to the board by spring 2017.